I like Coheed quite a bit, and since everyone else always speaks their names in the same breath, I like The Mars Volta as well.

That's where my Prog rock cred starts and stops, unfortunately. Not that The Mars Volta is very prog rock or anything, but it has its moments.

As far as what the HELL is going on, I found this article, which seems pretty cool... I'm just reading it now.

Of course, really knowing what's going on isn't going to change how I feel about the music that much... I'll still be creeped out by the whole Velourium Camper section, regardless of the fact that I know it's a ship piloted by an intergalactic bounty hunter who likes to do bad things.

And you could tell me "A Favor House Atlantic" was about a 100-man gay orgy, and I would still think it's a GREAT song.

My prog rock credentials run far and deep. I went through a "prog" phase a few years ago like few people do.

I went from Pink Floyd and Rush to Dream Theater, ELP, King Crimson, PFM, Yes, The Flower Kings, Gentle Giant, Anglagard, Magma, lots of Krautrock bands, After Crying, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Le Orme, Kenso, Metamorfosi, on down to the REAL obscure (Potemkine! Rahmann! Sepsis!)

You're not a prog-rock dork until you've listened to "classics" that exist on CD in about a 500 copy print like Dün or Eskaton's "4 Visions". Or vinyl transfers to CDR that don't exist in true CD prints at all.

I went deeeeep into the genre until the returns on obscurities began to diminish - some artists belong in obscurity.

For some prog-rock info, these sites are a must:
Gnosis
Ground & Sky
The Giant Progweed

There are lots of flavors of prog rock. I prefer flavors that include a good dose of metal. I listen regularly to bands such as Dream Theater, Savatage, Queensryche, Fates Warning and Shadow Gallery. Unfortunately, I can't help you with your first question.

De-loused IS a great album. If anything, Frances the Mute seems to have better MOMENTS, but not be better overall. There are sections that literally sound like ambient noise for minutes at a time... no words, no soft guitars, just quietness... but, they're followed by sections of balls to the wall rock, so I forgive them.

Hmm, now I'm going to have listen to some album about the Tri-Mage.

Does a Heroin Addicted-Assassin have an affair with a nun who is also having an affair with a priest and then the HAA has to kill the nun but instead kills the priest happen? That would be pretty sweet.

Thanks for the link. Call me oblivious but I never realized there was such a story going on in those two albums. I have been listening to Coheed and Cambria for about a year now and have really enjoyed their music. A Favor House Atlantic was what got me listening to them. Thing is I tend to have my music set to random so I never just listened to the albums straight through. Going to have to now, won't I?

As for being progressive rock fan, I would guess that I am. I have and listen to albums by most of the bands listed so far. I just tend to have an issue defining music in genres. It is always hard for me to keep up when people are talking about certain types of music. If some one asked me "Do you like [enter genre here] music?" I just have to list bands I like and follow up with "Do any of those fit?" You see, I have a metric sh*t ton of music (about 80 gigs right now, all CDs I own and have encoded) and I just have a giant play list on my Linux box playing random songs 24/7 that I control from my laptop. It is not unusual for me to hear a set of songs that go something like this; Megadeath, Enya, Decemberists, Tribe of Circle, Azumanga Daioh, Dead can Dance, Katamari Damacy, Smashing Pumpkins... you get the point. So since I like the bands listed in this progressive rock thread I would have to say that I too am a progressive rock fan. Just don't ask me to suggest some bands because I really won't be able to say if they are progressive or not.

Wow, it appears that GWJ just gave me ANOTHER reason to obsessively check the site......people with good taste in music!

I tend to veer more to the doom side of things; Sleep, Pelican, ISIS, etc.....but if somebody can bring up Maudlin, I can bring them up, right? =)

Coheed, Mars Volta......really like 'em. Saw Mars at All Tomorrow's Parties Pacific in 2003, and they really brought it.

You are my new best friend.

I think Tool is widely considered to be the originator of the "new" prog. Much of their approach reminds me of a Rush for the Korn generation--virtuosic, experimental, flamboyantly weird. Aenima is easily one of the best rock albums of the last 10 years.

Now you're my new best friend.

Tool is awesome. C&C are pretty good too, although entirely different in my mind.

I don't think I have much other than the two I just mentioned that would qualify as Prog-Rock, though I do have a Dream Theater disc in my collection somewhere.

I lose track of what cd's are where these days. The collection just broke 700 discs or something and it's starting to get irritating. One of these days I'm going to go through and give away/sell all the old junk I don't listen to anymore.

It's mostly about the odd time signatures and off beat song topics. Granted, they're not science fiction operas, but pretty close sometimes. forty-six and 2 is about the next stage of human evolution. Hooker With a Penis makes fun of their own fan base. 2 songs are distinctly about anal sex and several others allude to it. Eleven is possibly about child abuse, but it's hard to tell. A lot of songs are about hating brain washed morons in general and religious zealots in particular. All of Lateralus is about screwed up relationships, but it's still so extraordinarily different than how anyone else does it. And that doesn't even include A Perfect Circle's utter weirdness in song topics. I <3 Maynard. I totally have a mancrush on him.

Sorry to turn this into the 'Tool is AWESOME!!!111shift+1' thread, but they are my favorite band, afterall

I don't try to pigeonhole myself as a fan of this genre or that genre; I just listen to the bands I like. And topping the list you'll find Yes, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, and Rush. If you tell me that (some, most, or all of) these are progressive rock, then I guess I am a fan.

Does Journey count? Whoa.

Journey is not prog rock; they are 'space ship rock'. Often there is cross over between the two, but Journey is not one of those bands. Yes, on the other hand, is.

So apparently C&C has a new album coming out in August or September? Sweet!

New website.

http://www.burningstariv.com/

Looks like the 4th episode will be 2 parts, making it EVEN MORE confusing. The preview song "Welcome Home" sounds very cool - a little bit more metal than normal, at least at the beginning.

How's that for a prog album title, though?

Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Volume I: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness

"Good Apollo" it is.